Bursa Malaysia opens higher, tracking Wall Street gains

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher, tracking positive Wall Street performance overnight amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.67 points to 1,631.63, up from Tuesday's close of 1,625.96.

The index opened 4.02 points higher at 1,629.98.

In the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 252 to 115, with 308 counters unchanged, 1,773 untraded and six suspended.

Turnover totalled 177.49 million units worth RM79.09 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the brokerage expects the key index to trend between the 1,625-1,635 range today, taking a cue from robust overnight performance on Wall Street and the heightened likelihood of a rate cut in September.

"Wall Street closed higher, underpinned by broad-based buying, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average index to a record high.

"Traders remained hopeful that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates this September, supported by better-than-expected June retail sales, indicating a soft landing for the US economy," he added.

In heavyweights trading, Maybank rose by four sen to RM10.14, TNB increased by two sen to RM14.48, and Public Bank, CIMB, and IHH Healthcare each gained three sen to RM4.16, RM7.18, and RM6.38 respectively. Press Metal and Hong Leong Bank remained unchanged at RM5.98 and RM19.10.

Among the most active counters, Censof advanced by two sen to 40.5 sen, Malayan United edged up half-a-sen to nine sen, while Nova MSC and Computer Forms both rose by one sen to 19.5 sen and 17.5 sen. Aimflex held steady at 20 sen and Kanger International declined by half-a-sen to 5.5 sen.

On the index front, the FBM Emas Index increased by 40.14 points to 12,640.87, the FBMT 100 Index strengthened by 38.62 points to 12,211.75, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 42.35 points to 13,014.94, the FBM 70 Index recovered by 45.70 points to 18,854.92 and the FBM ACE Index added 5.46 points to 5,968.54.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 53.78 points to 17,954.84, the Plantation Index gained 1.26 points to 6,983.56, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.42 points to 200.54, while the Energy Index fell by 0.86 points to 975.34.

-- BERNAMA